And what Brown said in response did her no good: "I can't lie," she wrote on Facebook. "I did it for 60 seconds. It was a time out and no more barking."

Police tracked her down to a home in North Carolina and she was charged with a cruelty to animals, which is a misdemeanor.

The local police department said in a statement that, after physical examination by animal control officers, the dog and another pet would be staying with their owner because they were "very well cared for."

"The dogs are current on their shots, spayed, and microchipped," Cary Police Captain Randall Rhyne said in a press release. "They are clean and well-nourished and appear to be comfortable in their surroundings. And there were no signs of injury to [the dog's] muzzle, not even detectable hair loss.”

But Andrea Arden of Animal Planet's "Pet Expert" said she found the photo very disturbing.

"My reaction was the same as everyone else, I was appalled," she said. "There are certainly lasting effects in regard to the relationship. A dog can understandably become very fearful of their owner because they feel that when their owner reaches for them they can do something that is potentially painful."